This is only the first volume, but I'm already pretty sure I'm going to love this series as much as I loved Emma.I'm willing to admit that this series might not be for everyone (although the thought brings me pain). Those looking for fast-paced action may find themselves bored by this volume. Amir's hunting skills add a little action, but a larger portion of the story is devoted to things like a child's fascination with an elderly woodworker's creations, Amir and Karluk looking for signs of Karluk's uncle, and Amir worrying about a sick Karluk.If you're like me, though, and have a fondness for slice-of-life stories and lots and lots of character interaction that is as much about the characters' expressions, body language, and actions as it is about what they're saying, all of it made even better by gorgeous art...well, you'll probably love this.When I first heard about this series, I was sold on it the instant I saw the name "Kaoru Mori." If this had been created by someone else, I probably would have at least read some reviews before ordering it, just to find out how the "12-year-old husband, 20-year-old bride" aspect would be handled - fortunately, Mori can be trusted not to turn that set-up into something icky. For now, at least, Amir is more like a big sister, although there are already some hints that their relationship will eventually become more.It's clear that Amir and Karluk get along pretty well, and there are some very cute scenes involving the two of them, my favorite being the one in which a very serious, slightly drunk Karluk tells Amir that he never once wished she were younger. This was after an evening spent talking with Karluk's uncle's family, who clearly did not approve of Amir's age but never came right out and said so to her or Karluk's faces. So far, Amir seems to be taking all of this fairly well. I'll be interested to see if her age becomes even more of an issue in future volumes - from the look of things, everyone, even people from her old tribe, thinks she married at far too old an age. I wonder why she didn't marry at the usual age (15 or 16, according to Mori's afterword)?I can't wait for the next volume, which I'm guessing will feature more scenes with Amir's family. I'm really looking forward to getting to see more of Amir's older brother - not so surprising, considering my usual tastes in characters. Right now, I think I'm mostly drawn to him for his slight resemblance to Rayek from Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest (it's the eyes and attitude). I hope future volumes don't reveal him to be a completely terrible person that I need to hate. I'm a little worried that he and the two cousins are going to attack the Eihon family and take Amir by force.Overall, this volume is excellent, although it may be a little too slow-paced for some. Yen Press chose to release this in hardcover format, which means that it costs more than most paperback manga but will hold up to multiple rereads better (public and academic libraries, buy this please!). I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever read a right-to-left manga volume in hardcover - my hands kept wanting to hold it the way I would a hardcover read left-to-right, although I adjusted pretty quickly. The book jacket is lovely, although the spine art is so narrow that the slightest mistake in how the jacket was folded will cause misalignment - I, personally, don't mind this, since my bookshelves are too crammed to properly display anything anyway. The full-color jacket art is so pretty that it almost makes me wish the entire volume were in color, except that I think the sensory overload probably would have been too much for me.Extras:There's a 3 page manga afterword by Kaoru Mori, in which she explains how she came up with A Bride's Story. She also includes a chart that explains characters and their relationships to one another - usually, I find this sort of thing to be redundant, but, in this case, some of the relationship details aren't always very obvious, so the chart is actually pretty helpful. (Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)